Chubby Electric Motorbike Claims “World’s Most Powerful” Title

The Voxan Wattman electric motorcycle was unveiled last Monday at the Paris Motor Show, with all the fanfare that a bike claiming to be the world’s most powerful should have. And on paper at least, they’re right: the bike boasts 200bhp at 10,500RPM and 150 ft lb instantaneously. This is enough to propel the two-wheeled machine from 0-60 in 3.4s and to 100mph in 5.9s, on the way to a top speed of 106 mph (170km/hh). That’s not too bad, but is far from the fastest. The Lightning Electric Superbike takes that title, doing the 0-60 in 3s flat, on the way to a top speed of 166mph (265km/h).

Despite boasting more power, the Wattman suffers from being too heavy. The 12.8kWh battery, while being able to recharge to 80% in 30 minutes, doesn’t appear to provide much real world range. As tested by the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) standards, the company can claim a range of 180 km (112 miles). But this means “an average speed of 33.6 km/h (21 mph), which suggests that the batteries will last 5.35 hours at an average power of 2.4 kW (3.2 hp).” That’s not a typical usage scenario for a bike. At full power, the batteries last… 5 minutes. Granted that too isn’t a typical usage scenario, but it’s important to keep in mind that while they’re making huge strides, electric vehicles still have some way to go. And to pursue the title of “world’s most powerful”, while sacrificing performance and range in the process is an easy way to lose the interest of potential customers.

There’s no word on price, but given they’re hand-assembled, we’re going to guess it’s pretty high.

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